High Court slams council for “act of retaliation” against PI law firm which sued it – Legal Futures

‘A local authority’s refusal to offer a law firm tenant a new lease was “an act of retaliation, pure and simple”, to punish the firm for bringing personal injury claims against it, the High Court found last week.’

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Legal Futures, 27th January 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Sheffield ‘crash-for-cash’ ringleaders jailed – BBC News

Posted January 27th, 2014 in accidents, fraud, insurance, news, sentencing by sally

‘Two men have been jailed for orchestrating a series of “crash-for-cash scams”, including one involving a bus with up to 40 passengers on board.’

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BBC News, 24th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Judge pleads for warring family to end £1m legal dispute – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 27th, 2014 in children, costs, divorce, fees, financial dispute resolution, judges, news by sally

‘Judge Nicholas Francis QC says “untold misery” has resulted from the courtroom battle between Susan and Richard Shield and their children over who owns shares in the family’s RA Shield Holdings company’

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Daily Telegraph, 24th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Woman jailed for murder of 11-month-old son – The Guardian

‘A mother has been jailed for a minimum of 14 years for murdering her 11-month-old son.’

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The Guardian, 24th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Blackburn siblings jailed over gay partner kidnap plot – BBC News

Posted January 27th, 2014 in assault, conspiracy, kidnapping, news, robbery, sentencing, video recordings by sally

‘Several members of a family who attempted to kidnap their sister’s gay partner have been jailed.’

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BBC News, 24th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mike Hancock case: woman wins right to see full QC report – The Guardian

Posted January 27th, 2014 in complaints, disclosure, news, reports, sexual offences, victims by sally

‘The alleged sexual assault victim of MP Mike Hancock has won the right to see a full version of an independent QC’s report about her accusations.’

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The Guardian, 25th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Security farce over anonymity for terror suspects on the run – Daily Telegraph

Posted January 27th, 2014 in anonymity, control orders, human rights, news, terrorism by sally

‘Home Office is caught up in a row over its refusal to name terror suspects who have gone missing while on control orders.’

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Daily Telegraph, 25th January 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Campaigner’s lawyers challenge secrecy over police spy accused of lying in court – The Guardian

‘Prosecutors are due on Monday to defend their decision to keep secret the cause of a miscarriage of justice involving an undercover police officer who allegedly used his fictitious identity in a criminal trial to conceal his covert work.’

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The Guardian, 26th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Hundreds of mentally ill children ‘locked in police cells’, some for over 24 hours – The Independent

Posted January 27th, 2014 in children, detention, mental health, news, police, statistics by sally

‘Hundreds of potentially unwell children in England and Wales have been placed in police cells after being detained under the Mental Health Act as officers had no place else to take them.’

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The Independent, 26th January 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

James Roy Simister guilty of murdering Debbie Simister – BBC News

Posted January 27th, 2014 in alcohol abuse, domestic violence, murder, news by sally

‘A man who stabbed his wife to death during an argument at their home has been convicted of murder.’

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BBC News, 24th January 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Parole system failing prisoners and close to be overwhelmed, lawyers warn – The Independent

Posted January 27th, 2014 in budgets, delay, news, oral hearings, parole, prisons, standards, Supreme Court by sally

‘England and Wales’s parole system is on the brink of a crisis that will result in reformed prisoners being detained months after they should have been released, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.’

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The Independent, 26th January 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Mentally unfit refugees unfairly targeted by Home Office – The Guardian

‘The Home Office is covertly targeting the most vulnerable asylum seekers – those considered mentally unfit, or victims of torture – for deportation as part of the government’s hardline stance on immigration, according to lawyers and charity workers.’

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The Guardian, 25th January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jump in judicial reviews against HMRC shows businesses more willing to challenge “unlawful” tax decisions, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 24th, 2014 in judicial review, news, statistics, taxation by sally

‘Businesses have become more willing to challenge tax decisions against them that appear to be unlawful, an expert has said, after a 31% increase in the number of judicial review applications made against HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).’

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OUT-LAW.com, 24th January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Surrogacy: A Guide to the Current Law (Part 1) – Family Law Week

Posted January 24th, 2014 in news, surrogacy by sally

‘In the first of two articles providing an introduction to surrogacy law, Bianca Jackson, a pupil barrister at Coram Chambers, considers the key statutes and regulations underpinning this growing area of family law practice.’

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Family Law Week, 24th January 2014

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

How whole-life sentences might comply with human rights convention – The Guardian

Posted January 24th, 2014 in appeals, human rights, murder, news, parole, sentencing by sally

‘Strasbourg court found that whole-life terms breached human rights of prisoners as they did not provide any review mechanism.’

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The Guardian, 21st January 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Litigation privilege did not apply to correspondence before litigation was “reasonably anticipated”, judge says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 24th, 2014 in burden of proof, financial advice, news, privilege by sally

‘A brewing company was unable to prevent correspondence between itself and its bank and accountants from being disclosed during a dispute connected with the sale of its eastern European business, a High Court judge has ruled.

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OUT-LAW.com, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

HB and Exempt accommodation: unreasonably high rent – NearlyLegal

Posted January 24th, 2014 in benefits, housing, landlord & tenant, news, rent, service charges by sally

‘I admit that SS v Birmingham CC [2013] UKUT 418 (AAC) has been on my to do list for a while and that, possibly, the main reason for finding the time to write it up is because I’m on a two hour strike (#fairpayinHE). But, it is a really quite important case about the application of the unreasonably high rent rule for “exempt accommodation” in Reg 13 and Sch 3 of the 2006 Housing Benefit regs. The principal question of law concerns the meaning of “suitable alternative accommodation” in those regs.’

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NearlyLegal, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

We need to talk about Denning – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted January 24th, 2014 in advocacy, judges, judgments, news, precedent by sally

‘It’s a familiar scenario to any lawyer.

You’re reading a practitioner handbook and see a case referred to that seems just a little bit odd.

You read the summary in the footnotes and can’t believe it really says that and, before you know it, you’ve been side-tracked from your original research plan into actually getting a copy of the case.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Sean Turner: Inquest rules ‘lost opportunities’ in four-year-old’s care – The Independent

Posted January 24th, 2014 in children, hospitals, inquests, medical treatment, news by sally

‘A Bristol hospital has apologised over the treatment a four-year-old heart patient received on a ward after his parents condemned his care as “shambolic”.’

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The Independent, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Mark Elliot: Reflections on the HS2 case: a hierarchy of domestic constitutional norms and the qualified primacy of EU law – UK Constitutional Law Group

‘Earlier this week, the UK Supreme Court gave judgment in R (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport [2014] UKSC 3. A good overview of the issues at stake in the case can be found in the Court’s press summary, as well as in a post by David Hart on the UK Human Rights Blog. This post is concerned only with one aspect of the decision, and with some very interesting dicta concerning not only the relationship between UK and EU law, but the nature of the UK’s constitutional order itself.’

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UK Constitutional Law Group, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org